A spirited Chase Academy side led by their outstanding captain Jeremy Garrett beat a lethargic Morgan’s learning Center team 4-2 to win the North Georgetown Zone for a fourth consecutive year.
Despite playing on a soggy and wet GFC (Georgetown Football Club) ground Chase were aggressive from the onset and led by their fleet-footed wingers, launched frequent attacks
On one such occasion through a piece of skillful trickery from Stephon Reynolds, a Morgan defender unwittingly conceded a penalty. Captain Garrett calmly buried the spot kick to send Chase into the lead in the sixth minute.
The Morgan defenders were slow to react and seemed to move at a snail’s pace as Chase continued attacking and had the lion’s share of possession.
It came as no surprise when Reynolds dribbled past two defenders just outside the box and hit a low shot towards goal which the Morgan custodian fumbled, resulting in the ball trickling between his legs and into the net to in the 28th minute.
Going into the halftime break the score remained the same, however a resurgent Morgan side emerged in the second half and it took only three minutes to pull one back.
The North Zone champions, Chase Academy
After a Morgan player was fouled on the right wing, Orin Moore took on the free-kick responsibility and struck a thunderbolt of a shot to beat Chase’s goalie at his near post.
Yet another foul by Chase resulted in a second free-kick being awarded to Morgan. This time Moore’s right-foot shot went low under the wall and past a motionless Chase keeper.
It was game on at 2-2 then, a visibly shaken Chase side rallied and were awarded a free-kick of their own in the 51st minute, Morgan’s keeper did well to keep the resulting free-kick out but unfortunately the ball fell into the path of Adrian Aaron who gleefully fired it home to restore Chase’s lead at 3-1.
In what some spectators are calling the goal of the tournament thus far, Garrett struck the ball from deep within his own half towards the Morgan goal area, where the bewildered opposition’s custodian could only watch as the ball bounced over him and into the back of the net to seal the victory for Chase in the 68th minute.
Speaking to Guyana Times Sports Garrett explained that while the Morgan’s side is no stranger to his team, it was an intense game and he commended his teammates for rallying in the second half to clinch the game.
The next stage of the tournament which is the overall regional quarter-finals will be held within the next two weeks and Garrett expects his sternest opponents to be Annai.
